Is naturopathy covered by health insurance?
Naturopathy, yoga and western herbal medicine can be covered again since 1 July 2025, but nine natural therapies - including homeopathy - are still excluded.
Key takeaways
- Since 1 July 2025, health funds have been allowed to pay benefits for naturopathy, yoga and western herbal medicine again - but not every fund does, so check your policy.
- Specific natural therapies such as remedial massage, acupuncture and chiropractic are often still covered.
- Always confirm your specific treatment, provider and limits (per appointment and per year) with your health insurer before treatment.
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What is naturopathy?
Naturopathy is an umbrella term used to describe a type of medicine which relies on natural remedies to improve health. It includes heaps of common treatments, such as remedial massage, acupuncture and Chinese herbalism, plus some you might not have heard of before.
Broadly speaking, health insurance can cover naturopathy again. Naturopathy was excluded from private health insurance in April 2019, but from 1 July 2025 the government put it back into the definition of general treatment, so health funds are allowed to pay extras benefits for it. Not every fund does, and each one sets its own rules about which providers it recognises, so check your policy before you book. Health insurance can also cover some treatments that are categorised as natural treatments but aren't done by a naturopath - like remedial massages.
Some of the treatments below - aromatherapy, Bowen therapy, homeopathy, iridology and reflexology - are among the nine therapies that remain excluded, so a session that consists only of one of those can't attract a benefit. This list is by no means exhaustive, but some common examples of naturopathy include:
- Aromatherapy
- Bowen therapy
- Auriculotherapy - Cupping therapy
- Herbal medicine - Homeopathy
- Iridology - Phrenology
- Reflexology - Remedial massage
What types of services are covered by health funds?
There is a wide range of services that fall under the umbrella of natural therapies. The treatments below were never on the excluded list, so health funds have been able to keep paying benefits for them through both the 2019 and the 2025 changes:
- Acupuncture. Use of needles to stimulate pressure points.
- Physiotherapy. Injury treatment that uses physical methods like massage, heat and exercise.
- Exercise physiology. The use of exercise for the management and prevention of disease.
- Chiropractic. Manipulation of the spinal column and joints to prevent and treat injury.
- Remedial massage. The use of massage to treat pain and injury in the muscles, tendons and ligaments.
- Chinese medicine. The treatment of illness, injury and disease using traditional Chinese methods including acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage and dietary therapy.
The extent to which these services are covered will depend largely on the insurer and policy.
What naturopathy is not covered by private health insurance?
In 2019, there were significant reforms to private health insurance in Australia. As part of the reforms, some naturopathy treatments were excluded from the definition of general treatment.
Sixteen natural therapies were removed at that point. Seven of them - the Alexander technique, naturopathy, Pilates, shiatsu, tai chi, western herbal medicine and yoga - were put back into the definition of general treatment on 1 July 2025, so health funds are allowed to pay benefits for them again if they choose to. The other nine remain excluded, which means a health insurance policy cannot pay a benefit for them.
The nine therapies that remain excluded are:
- Aromatherapy
- Bowen therapy
- Buteyko
- Feldenkrais
- Homeopathy
- Iridology
- Kinesiology
- Reflexology
- Rolfing
Compare extras policies
All prices are based on a single individual with less than $105,000 income and living in Sydney. Be sure to check the PDS to see if your desired treatment is covered.
Finder Score - Health Insurance Extras
Each month we analyse over 10,000 extras insurance products and rate each one on price and features. What we end up with is a nice round number out of 10 that helps you compare extras cover a bit faster.
We want to compare apples to apples, not apples to apple pie. It doesn't make sense to compare a top extras policy with coverage for hearing aids and braces against a policy designed only for dental. So we've separated all the extras policies on the market into pools and categories. Once in their pools and categories, each product gets a price score and a features score, which are then combined to give the Final Score.
Waiting periods for natural therapies
Waiting periods do apply for natural therapies. A waiting period is a set amount of time before you can claim a benefit for a particular service. For extras cover, like natural therapies, two months is the typical waiting period before you can claim for most services.
However, insurers sometimes waive these waiting periods to convince you to sign up. Funds are also required to waive the waiting periods if you switch from another insurer where you've already served a waiting period for the same service.
Are chiropractic treatments considered naturopathy?
No. Chiropractic is a registered health profession in its own right - chiropractors have to be registered with the Chiropractic Board of Australia through Ahpra, the national health practitioner regulator - and it was not one of the natural therapies removed from health insurance in 2019. Health funds pay chiropractic under its own extras category, separate from naturopathy.
That means you'll have separate limits for each section. So if you have $250 to spend every year on naturopathy, you'll have a separate amount to spend on chiropractor appointments.
If you want more information on health insurance which covers chiropractic treatments, you should check out our guide
Is osteopathy considered naturopathy?
No. Osteopathy is a registered health profession too - osteopaths have to be registered with the Osteopathy Board of Australia through Ahpra - and it was not one of the therapies removed in 2019. That is why health insurance funds usually give osteopathy its own category, separate to naturopathy.
This means you'll have separate limits for naturopathy and osteopathy. So if you reach your limit by having heaps of remedial massages, you'll have an entirely separate limit to use if you need to see an osteopath.
What should I know before claiming naturopathy on my health insurance?
Even if your health fund offers a benefit for naturopathy, there are still some details you should double check before going ahead with the treatment.
- Whether the therapy is still excluded. Nine natural therapies, including homeopathy, reflexology and kinesiology, remain outside the definition of general treatment, so no health insurance policy can pay a benefit for them.
- Whether your fund offers it. Health funds have been allowed to pay naturopathy benefits again since 1 July 2025, but they are not required to, so check your own policy.
- Whether your provider is recognised. Each fund sets its own provider approval rules, so a practitioner your fund does not recognise means no benefit, even on a policy that covers the therapy.
- Your limits, per appointment and per year. Confirm both with your fund. Chiropractic and osteopathy sit in their own extras categories with their own separate limits, so a naturopathy limit will not stretch to cover them.
- Your waiting period. Two months is typical for extras. A fund may waive it, and it must be waived if you have already served a waiting period for the same service with a previous insurer.
If you're unsure about any of these, you should always contact your insurer directly to check.
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